Question of the day: what’s worse?

I’m currently reading Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski (let me just say it’s an excellent book!). I’ll tell you more about it after I finish it and post my review.

Anyways, Mike wrote about an older guy they met on the streets that would make money by selling cold cans of pop on the streets for $1.00 each. The old man testified to Mike and Sam that he was indeed a Christian, then went on to compare his life’s story to that of the story of David and Goliath. Acting the story out for those who surrounded them in the park, he played the parts of King Saul, David, and Goliath with exuberant drama!

After sitting down with the group of homeless people he started his conversation off with, he reached over and grabbed the glass pipe with marijuana and had himself a time. A “Christian” on the streets, willingly and consciously doing drugs.

Mike wrote a little more blurb, and then posed a question to his readers. And now I’m going to pose the question to you…

What’s worse? To do dope or to not love your Christian brother?

Why do we kick drug users out of the church while quietly overlooking those who are ignoring their own different but equally destructive sins? Why do we reject the loving, self-sacrificing, giving, encouraging, Jesus-pursuing, drug addict but recruit the clean, self-interested, gossiping, loveless churchgoer?

Which one do you suppose Jesus would rather share a burrito with under a bridge?

Makes you scratch your head a little, doesn’t it. Well, that’s what it caused me to do anyways.

Well to tell you the truth I think that is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 23:23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone “.
You don’t Light up illegal drugs, to befriend a person that claims to be a Christian, just as you don’t go into a bar and have a beer with the lost, to give them the Gospel. Jesus said in Matthew 7:20 ” Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them “.
If someone claims to be a Christian, their life should reflect it. That does not mean they are perfect, but if they live like the world I would question them about their salvation and true faith in Christ.
To be among the sinners to soul win is one thing; to participate in the sin is wrong.

Normally I do not comment or respond to comments on the QOTD posts because their purpose is to get my readers involved in discussion apart from me.
However, let me just clarify really quick.

The man who sold pop, claimed to be saved, acted out the store of David and Goliath, and did drugs are all the same person. Mike and Sam were nearly observers of all this.

My question was in regards to the homeless man who did drugs.

He claimed to be a Christian, yet did drugs. Is it not possible for a homeless man to become an addict on the streets, get saved, and continue to be an addict? Surely it is.
If such a person has no place to turn, the chances of him quitting drugs is very unlikely. And even if he did have a place to turn, drug addictions are no easy thing to shake.

Anywho… as I said before – the question was in regards to the homeless man who claimed Christianity, not Mike or Sam.

All of us have issues, sins, that we struggle with that make us unlikely Christians. even the most devout, godly lady i know has sin that she faces each day. i feel like a drug addict is welcome in Jesus’ eyes as much as we are by His blood. And i agree with you drug addictions are difficult to let go of.

I don’t know if we really should be treating this as an “either, or” question. They both are sins and God would not be pleased with either actions. I think that the individual is not being Christ-like in his presentation of himself as a Christian. The Christian life isn’t simply about sharing God’s word but embodying it in our life as well and I just think that in presenting himself in this manner (casually doing drugs and all) is to present a false message. If you do take it upon yourself to share the word of God with others you must remember that you are representing God and to think that you can preach Christ in one hand and drugs on the other is completely wrong. Now I do believe that you can be a Christian and be addicted to drugs (after all, none of us are perfect) but it would seem that this individual was far too casual about his sin and made it seem like it was perfectly alright to be a Christian and smoke drugs. In this respect he presented a false message and while I certainly believe that God can use him to touch lives, I am also certain that God will hold him accountable. If one acts in the name of God or on his behalf then they must make every effort to present him in a manner which will glorify him and casually smoking marijuana does not bring glory to God.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” — Matt. 7:21-23 NIV

Once more I’m not calling into question this individual’s salvation but simply stating that God cannot be trifled with. Even sharing the message of the gospel does not automatically mean that we have God’s seal of approval and we should not try to defend one sin in order to judge another but rather judge all sin. While I cannot speak concerning this man’s salvation, I can certainly say that those who would deem to sin in his name will be judged more harshly than those who did not claim to represent God.

??
I wouldn’t “share a burrito w/” either. “If sinners entice thee consent thou not” No matter the sin, sin w/o shame is DANGEROUS . Jesus never did and never would fellowship w/ anyone who is unrepentant. We can be nice, but love and fellowship are 2 different things.

{Don't miss a thing!}

Enter your email address to subscribe to Grow Up! and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 763 other followers

{Got something to say?}

Questions? Ideas for future posts? Wanna be a guest blogger on Grow Up! sometime? Writing a review of the blog?

...send me an e-mail with whatever's on your mind!

growup318 {at} gmail {dot} com

{If you don't want your e-mail (in part or whole) considered for publication on the blog, please be sure to specify that in your e-mail. All e-mails not specified will be eligible for future publishing consideration. Names will be changed to protect identification, and e-mail addresses will never be shared.}